Looking to combine volunteering, fundraising, and community outreach in one event? Draw some inspiration from The Theatre Lab’s newest venture!
By Jeff Scott, Marketing & Events Manager at The Theatre Lab:
On Saturday, June 18, The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts hosted its first-ever Amazing Race. The one-day event featured teams of volunteers approaching local businesses to solicit donations which could then be auctioned off at The Theatre Lab’s annual benefit in the fall (which helps to fund education and community outreach programs). The volunteer group included current and past students of The Theatre Lab along with their friends and colleagues.
The racers were divided into teams and each team was assigned a specific area of town to target, which included Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, and Georgetown. Armed with packets of information on The Theatre Lab’s education and community outreach programs, and dressed in matching fire engine red t-shirts, the volunteers set off into the unknown.
Prior to the event, certain stores had prearranged donations with The Theatre Lab. The volunteers were given clues by Theatre Lab staff members to direct them to these stores to add a scavenger hunt element to the activities. Theatre Lab alum Tina Ghandchilar recounted her team’s experiences:
“We began our 5 hour journey, individually, or in pairs, each of us hitting specific targets … hotels, restaurants, retail stores, and hair salons. Throughout the first half of the day, we realized that the majority of our leads lead us to exhaustion from the sticky, sweltering heat. Luckily, fate was on our side as Sherlock Deb came to the rescue, waiting outside of Georgetown Cupcake with our next clue to our next lead. And boy did we ever need it! She reinvigorated our tired spirits and sent us off to our next destination with pride and purpose. The clue to our target in the afternoon was a shoe store … a rather cool, refreshing, welcoming shoe store, with a rather chipper, cheery manager and staff ready to donate a super neat pair of Nikes!”
The donation items gathered were assigned point values based on their retail value and uniqueness. At the end of the day, the volunteers with the highest point tallies in various categories received gift certificates for acting classes at The Theatre Lab.
After the event, the volunteers weighed in: “I think the concept of contacting local businesses face to face is an excellent idea,” said volunteer Larry Strongin. “We found during our contacts with local businesses was that almost all of them had never heard of the Theatre Lab. So just by showing up and have a personal conversation we were able to increase awareness of the Theatre Lab and its programs which benefit the local community.”
In one afternoon, the volunteers secured ten unique donated items for the benefit auction, including a convertible ottoman valued at $500. Over fifty contacts at various businesses were also made for potential future donations and sponsorships.
The Theatre Lab will hold its annual Cabaret Benefit and Auction on Monday, November 7 . Inquiries can be directed to Theatre Lab Development Director Melanie Figg (melanie@theatrelab.org).